FESTIVAL fever in the Mid West is fuelled further by the inaugural Killaloe Music Festival, established this year by local musical lights. Opening on Friday June 14 and with a concert each day until Sunday 16, ‘the Viennese phenomenon’ theme will be played out by terrifically talented artists.
Founding father of this Killaloe fest is one John Horgan, current chair of Bord na Móna, past chair of the Labour Court and now big-wig consultant to industrial relations. He’s also a dedicated follower of the arts, from the Kate O’Brien Weekend to the classic symphonics and contemporary culture.
His friendly benevolence is far from posey phoney so Arts page asked about the mid-summer Mitteleuropa influence: “Music associated with Vienna falls large into three different schools, the first from the early 1800s having Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert. The second is early 20th century, to which Weburn belonged and we will have two pieces by him. The third Viennese school is contempory.
“Its Schwertsik has a fun piece in the Saturday 15 concert, it’s humorous and that’s important as I feel that some people are that little bit afraid of contemporary music”.
Let nobody fear disappointment in the quality of composer. On Friday 14, hit flautist Charlotte Bletton is guest of the Schumann Quartet for Beethoven, Webern, Mozart in St Flannan’s Cathedral, 8pm
On Saturday 15, Schubert, Schwertsik, Kriesler and Beethoven are on the 8pm programme and then on Sunday 16, a 3pm afternoon concert will endear families to Spohr’s majestic ‘Double Quartet’ and Schubert’s Timeless masterpiece, ‘The Trout’.
John Horgan has strong praise for his organising team, each a musician of national renown: artistic director Joachim Roewer, is viola lead with the Irish Chamber Orchestra and married to festival player Katherine Hunka, the ICO’s leader. The festival manager is Boris Hunka of Music of the Glen school and band Hunka Love, and spouse to one of the festival’s violinists, Diane Daly of ICO who teaches at this local school also.
The ticket cost to each concert is €20 with concessions for children, OAPs and know that Music in the Glen performers have a children’s show to delight at St Flannan’s Cathedral at 2pm, prior to the concert.
See www.killaloemusic.com for more and tickets sell through University Concert Hall box office and at 061-331549.
